The season opener is less than 12 hours for MSU and here is a game day edition of this blog.

A night game against a ranked opponent like Boise State gives tonight’s contest all the ingredients for another memorable night contest at Spartan Stadium.

Most recently it was Wisconsin last season and then Notre Dame in 2010. With that in mind, Chris Solari touches on the magical moments in night games in this front page article in today’s LSJ.

While the Spartans have had magical moments in night games, Boise State has had those types of memories in games against teams from BCS conferences. The Broncos have gone 8-1 against big-name teams under in its first six seasons under Chris Petersen as it’s program has joined the nation’s elite. The lone loss was to Washington.

It all started with the Fiesta Bowl win in 2007 and game MVP Jared Zabransky said the players just have a confidence about them. Kicker Kyle Brotzman, who is more remembered for missing a couple field goals in a 34-31 loss to Nevada that cost the Broncos a perfect season in 2010, says players carry a chip on their shoulders.

Here is more about the giant slayer Boise program, which is producing a growing number of NFL talent and had two players selected in the first round of this year’s draft.

While Andrew Maxwell gets set to make his starting debut tonight, Kirk Cousins finished off a strong preseason Thursday. He was 15 of 27 passing and threw for 222 yards with an interception against Tampa Bay in the Redskins’ finale. Cousins ended the preseason with an NFL-best 560 passing yards – seven ahead of Eagles QB Nick Foles, who spent a year at MSU.

About this blog

Chris Solari@chrissolariChris Solari has been with LSJ Media since 2006 and has covered Spartan athletics since 1994 while attending MSU. He also was an award-winning writer while covering South Dakota State athletics from 2002-06.

Brian Calloway@brian_callowayBrian is a native of Coloma, Mich., and a 2005 graduate of Eastern Michigan. He has worked at the Lansing State Journal since October 2010.